Letter LXIV.
To Fabiola.
Fabiola’s visit to Bethlehem had been shortened by
the threatened invasion of the Huns which compelled Jerome and his
friends to take refuge for a time on the seaboard of Palestine. Fabiola
here took leave of her companions and set sail for Italy, but not until
Jerome had completed this letter for her use (§22). It contains a
mystical account of the vestments of the High Priest worked out with
Jerome’s usual ingenuity and learning. Similar treatises are
ascribed to Tertullian and to Hosius bishop of Cordova, but these have
long since perished. Its date is 396 or 397
a.d.